PATERNAL PARTICIPATION AND CHILDREN'S WELL-BEING AFTER MARITAL DISSOLUTION.

PARENT-child relationships; PARENTAL influences; WELL-being; EDUCATION; BEHAVIOR; PSYCHOLOGICAL stress; PSYCHOLOGICAL distress

Using a nationally representative sample of children aged 11-16 who had experienced their parents' marital dissolution, we examine the influence of paternal involvement on the child's well-being. For measures of academic difficulty, problem behavior, and psychological distress, there is little evidence that paternal involvement had either harmful or beneficial effects. Paternal economic support reduced somewhat the likelihood of problem behavior. Frequency of visitation and closeness of relationship to father showed no consistent influence on the available measures of child well-being. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

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